Thanksgiving, Birthday and Poker

I was off work on Wednesday so I spent some time with my family during the day and was able to get in about 3 hours of poker that evening. I didn't play terrible but I didn't play all that well. I ended up losing $1.63 playing .15/.30 limit. The biggest pot I won was $3.60 when I flopped the nut flush with A7h. A couple of hands later I won $2.30 against the same opponent with my QTs vs. his Q7s and ended up making a full house on the river. The most I lost on one hand was $1.20 when I was dealt a pair of nines in the SB. There were 3 callers and then the CO raised, I called the raise and so did the others. The flop was 348, I opened with a bet and the CO raised again and I called. The turn was another 8 and I bet again then called another raise. I checked and folded on the river figuring I was beaten by a higher pocket pair. I didn't get to see my opponent's cards, so I will never know, but I am pretty sure I did the right thing. He raised pre-flop only one time before that hand and that was with QQ. It would have been easier to fold my pocket nines if something higher had come on the flop.

I played .15/.30 again Thursday morning and won $3.48. I was dealt some very good cards and hit several flops. I won three pots with full houses. $1.80 was the most I lost on one hand. I was dealt J3o in the BB and checked to see the flop. The flop was 33T and I bet after the SB checked. I bet again on the turn which was a queen. The river was another ten and I bet and re-raised and ended up losing to ATs. I should have only called the first raise.

I played another couple of hours Thursday night and lost $2.49. The session started off pretty nicely when I was dealt a pair of jacks when I posted my BB. The flop was 88x and aces came on both the turn and the river. After my first hand I was up $1.47. Then I lost almost a dollar on the next hand with KJs vs. KQo, when the board came KT2A8.
The bankroll pretty much continued its downward trend the rest of the session. I would win a hand, then lose a couple and hands.

Friday was my birthday and I think Party Poker must have decided to reward with my best session ever. I decided to try out the .25/.50 limit tables because I won't be able to play the beginner tables much longer and thought I should try to ease into the higher limits. I watched several hands and took notes before posting my blind and it seemed like fewer hands were going all the way to showdown so people must have been playing tighter.

The first hand I won was with a full house, nines full and jacks, after being dealt a pair of nines. The flop was J9x and another J came on the river. After winning the $3.70 pot I was almost even. I won three more smaller pots and then was dealt a pair of fives and ended winning $5.50 after making another full house. I won several more pots and was up over $5.00 when I won a huge pot.

I raised from the button with a pair of tens, the flop came JT7 and I raised twice on the flop. The turn and river were both nines and both of my opponents bet and raised in front of me on the turn. I raised on the river and then only called a raise after mine. Both of my opponents had made straights, one flopped a straight and the other made a higher straight on the turn. I won the $16.50 pot with the full house. I probably played that hand a little recklessly on the flop and the turn.

A few hands later I won another $9.15 pot with AKo vs. AA when a queen on the turn made my hand a straight. After winning those two big hands I was up over $22.00 and had almost doubled my buy-in of $25.00. I won a couple of more hands and ended the session up $24.18. I was dealt some very good cards during that session and hit several flops. That made a pretty good birthday present. Thanks Party Poker!

Current BR on Party Poker: $103.95